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Managing and syncing iPod touch On-The-Go playlists

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Q: I have an iPod touch with software version 2.2, and I have found two problems and was wondering if there are solutions. I downloaded a music podcast on my iPod but it wasn’t copied to iTunes. I was under the impression that was supposed to happen. The second problem is that I cannot seem to delete On-The-Go playlists, either on my iPod or in iTunes. According to the iPod manual which I downloaded from the Apple website, all I have to do is go to the playlist, select Edit and then Clear Playlist to delete the playlist. However, there doesn’t seem to be an Edit button anywhere. Any help would be much appreciated.

- Simon

A: Podcasts downloaded on your device should definitely sync back to iTunes if you are using automatic synchronization. However, keep in mind that if you are managing the content on your iPod touch manually from iTunes, nothing gets synced back from your iPod to your iTunes library, and in this case podcasts are no exception.

If you are using automatic synchronization, your podcasts should be transferred back from your device after the next sync and show up as an entry in your “Podcasts” section in iTunes.

Note that you will not get any kind of Podcast playlist for these, and unlike music purchased from the iTunes Wi-Fi Store on your device, podcasts are not added to your “Purchases” playlist in iTunes simply because they’re not purchases.

With On-The-Go playlists created on your device, you can only Edit and clear the current On-The-Go play queue—that is the entry that exists at the top of your Playlists screen titled “On-The-Go.”

However, once you sync your iPod touch with iTunes, your On-The-Go playlist syncs back to your iTunes library as a normal playlist with the name “On-The-Go” and a numeric suffix.

Despite the name, these are no longer actual “On-The-Go” playlists, but are simply normal playlists which have been created and synced from your device, and are automatically set for synchronization back to your device. Like any other playlist, these cannot be edited directly on the iPod touch, and must be modified or deleted by using iTunes itself. Deleting these playlists in iTunes is simply a matter of selecting them from your iTunes Source list and pressing the DELETE key.

Comments

1

I don’t know if its the same issue, but when the new firmware came out podcasts I downloaded on my touch werent syncing back to my PC, I found that I needed the very latest version of iTunes to make this happen.

Posted by robroe in Toronto on December 22, 2008 at 4:35 AM (CST)

1

So does anyone know how to import music videos from outside Itunes into Itunes. It seems to import but then I can’t see it either in the Music list or the Videos list. What gives?

Posted by Steven Netsch in Toronto on December 22, 2008 at 3:42 PM (CST)

1

I lost (crashed) my computer with all my itunes/library. now have another computer, but it says my ipod can only connect with one library. how can i get my ipod to sync with my new computer/library

Posted by lesley in Toronto on December 26, 2008 at 5:25 PM (CST)

1

Is there an AM tuner available for the Apple ITouch 2nd generation? I recognize many will perform FM functions; however, I have not noticed an AM/FM. Thank you.

Posted by Paul M. in Toronto on December 29, 2008 at 6:16 PM (CST)

1

when i plug my ipod into my computer a box comes up ipod is corupt must reset it, however then it goes back to ipod main screen and will not alow me to reset it. i need help

Posted by jj in Toronto on December 29, 2008 at 7:14 PM (CST)

1

My itunes will not open on my computer. I try to open it the icon on my desktop and the itunes says that it has encountered a problem and it needs to shut down. It says to send the error to microsoft, after that it does nothing. I try to open again and it’s the same thing is there any way I can get itunes to work again without losing my library?